Information processing apparatus, information processing system, and non-transitory computer readable medium for outputting encryption key on paper

ABSTRACT

An information processing apparatus includes a file acquiring unit, a generating unit, a data processing unit, and an output unit. The file acquiring unit acquires a file on the basis of an instruction from a user. The generating unit generates restriction information for restricting access to the file acquired by the file acquiring unit. The data processing unit associates the restriction information generated by the generating unit with the file acquired by the file acquiring unit. The output unit outputs the restriction information generated by the generating unit on a paper medium.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is based on and claims priority under 35 USC 119 fromJapanese Patent Application No. 2014-020756 filed Feb. 5, 2014.

BACKGROUND

(i) Technical Field

The present invention relates to an information processing apparatus, aninformation processing system, and a non-transitory computer readablemedium.

(ii) Related Art

In recent years, there is a problem of leakage of data due to loss ofinformation equipment and an occurrence of damage to the informationequipment caused by malware, such as computer virus.

SUMMARY

According to an aspect of the invention, there is provided aninformation processing apparatus including a file acquiring unit, agenerating unit, a data processing unit, and an output unit. The fileacquiring unit acquires a file on the basis of an instruction from auser. The generating unit generates restriction information forrestricting access to the file acquired by the file acquiring unit. Thedata processing unit associates the restriction information generated bythe generating unit with the file acquired by the file acquiring unit.The output unit outputs the restriction information generated by thegenerating unit on a paper medium.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Exemplary embodiments of the present invention will be described indetail based on the following figures, wherein:

FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating an exemplary hardware configuration ofan information processing system according to an exemplary embodiment;

FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating exemplary functions realized by aninformation processing apparatus;

FIG. 3 illustrates an exemplary encryption key output on a paper medium;

FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating exemplary functions realized by a userterminal;

FIG. 5 is a flowchart illustrating an exemplary process in theinformation processing apparatus;

FIG. 6 is a flowchart illustrating an exemplary process in the userterminal;

FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating exemplary functions realized by theinformation processing apparatus in an exemplary modification; and

FIG. 8 illustrates exemplary encryption keys output on the paper mediumin the exemplary modification.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Exemplary embodiments of the present invention will herein be describedwith reference to the attached drawings. The same reference numerals areused to identify the same components or similar components in thedrawings. A duplicated description of such components is omitted herein.

FIG. 1 is a diagram for description of an outline of a hardwareconfiguration of an information processing system according to anexemplary embodiment. Referring to FIG. 1, an information processingsystem 100 includes an information processing apparatus 110, a userterminal 120, and a file server 130. The information processingapparatus 110, the user terminal 120, and the file server 130 areconnected to a network, such as the Internet.

The information processing apparatus 110 includes a controller 111, astorage unit 112, a communication unit 113, and a printing unit 114. Thecontroller 111 is, for example, a central processing unit (CPU) andoperates in accordance with programs stored in the storage unit 112 toexecute each process performed by the information processing apparatus110. The storage unit 112 is, for example, a read only memory (ROM) or ahard disk and holds the programs executed by the controller 111. Thecommunication unit 113 is a network interface and transmits and receivesinformation over the network in accordance with an instruction from thecontroller 111. The printing unit 114 forms an image on a recordingmedium, such as a sheet of paper, with an electrophotographic method orthe like. The printing unit 114 may be included in an apparatus that isseparated from the information processing apparatus 110 and that isconnected to the information processing apparatus 110 directly or overthe network.

The user terminal 120 is an information terminal used by a user. Theuser terminal 120 includes a controller 121, a storage unit 122, acommunication unit 123, and an imaging unit 124. The controller 121 is,for example, a CPU and operates in accordance with programs stored inthe storage unit 122 to execute each process performed by the userterminal 120. The storage unit 122 is, for example, a ROM or a hard diskand holds the programs executed by the controller 121. The communicationunit 123 is a network interface and transmits and receives informationover the network in accordance with an instruction from the controller121. The imaging unit 124 is, for example, a camera and acquires animage.

The file server 130 (a storage unit) stores electronic data and may be adata server called a so-called cloud server. The file server 130 is thedata server which both the information processing apparatus 110 and theuser terminal 120 are capable of accessing over the network.

The programs processed by the controller 111 and the controller 121 maybe provided via a computer-readable information storage medium, such asan optical disk, a magnetic disk, a magnetic tape, a magneto-opticaldisk, or a flash memory, or may be provided via a communication system,such as the Internet.

Functions realized by the information processing apparatus 110 will nowbe described. FIG. 2 is a diagram for description of the functionsrealized by the information processing apparatus 110. Referring to FIG.2, the information processing apparatus 110 functionally includes, forexample, a file acquirer 201, a data processor 202, a restrictioninformation generator 203, a restriction information-to-string converter204, a restriction information encoder 205, a restriction informationoutput section 206, a user identification information acquirer 207, aterminal information acquirer 208, a user information memory unit 209,and a location information transmitter 210.

The file acquirer 201 acquires a file on the basis of an instructionfrom the user. The file may be acquired from the files that are storedin the information processing apparatus 110 or an information deviceconnected to the information processing apparatus 110 directly or overthe network or may be acquired from the files that are acquired by theinformation processing apparatus 110 or an image file acquisitionapparatus, such as a scanner, connected to the information processingapparatus 110 directly or over the network. The file acquirer 201supplies the acquired file to the data processor 202.

Upon acquisition of the file from the file acquirer 201, the dataprocessor 202 requests the restriction information generator 203 togenerate restriction information to restrict access to the acquiredfile.

Upon acquisition of the request to generate the restriction informationfrom the data processor 202, the restriction information generator 203generates the restriction information. The restriction information isexemplified by an encryption key used for encrypting the file in thefollowing description. Specifically, the restriction informationgenerator 203 generates the encryption key composed of random valueswith a common random number generation technology. A 128-bit randomnumber sequence or higher is desirably generated as the encryption key.The encryption key is electronic data of a binary data format. Therestriction information generator 203 supplies the generated encryptionkey to the data processor 202.

The data processor 202 associates the encryption key supplied from therestriction information generator 203 with the file supplied from thefile acquirer 201. Specifically, the data processor 202 encrypts thefile supplied from the file acquirer 201 with the encryption keygenerated by the restriction information generator 203. The encryptionmay be performed with, for example, a common Advanced EncryptionStandard (AES) method. In addition, the data processor 202 stores theencrypted file in the file server 130 connected to the informationprocessing apparatus 110 over the network and supplies locationinformation indicating the location of the encrypted file to thelocation information transmitter 210 described below in association withthe file name. Specifically, the data processor 202 supplies the filename of the encrypted file and address information (for example, aUniform Resource Locator (URL)) indicating the location where theencrypted file is stored in the file server 130 to the locationinformation transmitter 210. Furthermore, the data processor 202supplies the encryption key supplied from the restriction informationgenerator 203 to the restriction information-to-string converter 204 inassociation with the file name of the file supplied from the fileacquirer 201.

The restriction information-to-string converter 204 converts theencryption key supplied from the data processor 202 into a characterstring. Specifically, the restriction information-to-string converter204 converts the encryption key supplied from the data processor 202into a character string with a common method, such as Base64 encode. Theencryption key, which is binary data supplied from the data processor202, is converted into text data through the conversion into thecharacter string. The restriction information-to-string converter 204converts the encryption key supplied from the data processor 202 into acharacter string and supplies the encryption key converted into thecharacter string to the restriction information encoder 205.

The restriction information encoder 205 encodes the encryption key thatis supplied from the restriction information-to-string converter 204 andthat is converted into the character string. Specifically, therestriction information encoder 205 encodes the encryption key that issupplied from the restriction information-to-string converter 204 andthat is converted into the character string with a common technology. Inthe present exemplary embodiment, the restriction information encoder205 converts the encryption key that is converted into the characterstring into, for example, a Quick Response (QR) code (registeredtrademark). The encoding is not specifically limited as long as theencryption key is converted into any visualized code. The encryption keyis not necessarily converted into the QR code and, for example, may beconverted into a barcode or a Micro Gradation (MIG) code. Therestriction information encoder 205 encodes the encryption key that issupplied from the restriction information-to-string converter 204 andthat is converted into the character string and supplies the encodedencryption key to the restriction information output section 206.

The restriction information output section 206 outputs the encodedencryption key supplied from the restriction information encoder 205 ona paper medium. Specifically, for example, the restriction informationoutput section 206 instructs the printing unit 114 to print the encodedencryption key (QR code).

FIG. 3 illustrates an example of the encryption key output on a papermedium. Referring to FIG. 3, an encoded encryption key 302 (QR code) isprinted on a paper medium 301. The paper medium 301 on which theencryption key 302 is printed is acquired by the user operating theinformation processing apparatus 110 to be stored.

Referring back to FIG. 2, the functions realized by the informationprocessing apparatus 110 will be further described. The useridentification information acquirer 207 acquires user identificationinformation for identifying the user on the basis of an instruction fromthe user. Specifically, the user identification information acquirer 207acquires the user identification information, for example, when the userholds an integrated circuit (IC) tag or chip on which the useridentification information for identifying the user is written over anIC tag or chip reader connected to the information processing apparatus110. The user identification information is information (for example, anidentification (ID) number) which is added to the user in advance andwhich uniquely identifies the user. The acquisition of the useridentification information may not necessarily be performed in the modein which the information written on the IC tag or chip is read out. Acode (QR code or barcode) resulting from encoding of the useridentification information may be read out with a code reader or theuser may directly input the user identification information into theinformation processing apparatus 110. The user identificationinformation acquirer 207 supplies the acquired user identificationinformation to the terminal information acquirer 208.

The terminal information acquirer 208 acquires terminal informationabout the user terminal 120 on the basis of the user identificationinformation supplied from the user identification information acquirer207. Specifically, the terminal information acquirer 208 acquires theterminal information about the user terminal 120 carried by the usercorresponding to the user identification information from the userinformation memory unit 209 in which the user identification informationis stored in association with the terminal information. The userinformation memory unit 209 may be included in the informationprocessing apparatus 110 or may be provided outside the informationprocessing apparatus 110 to be connected to the information processingapparatus 110 over the network. The terminal information includesinformation about, for example, an electronic mail address available tothe user terminal 120. The terminal information acquirer 208 suppliesthe acquired terminal information to the location informationtransmitter 210.

The location information transmitter 210 transmits the locationinformation supplied from the data processor 202 to the user terminal120 on the basis of the terminal information supplied from the terminalinformation acquirer 208. Specifically, the location informationtransmitter 210 transmits the location information to the electronicmail address of the user terminal 120 included in the terminalinformation. In the mail to be transmitted, the file name of theencrypted file is included in a subject field and the locationinformation indicating the location where the encrypted file is storedis included in a text field.

Functions realized by the user terminal 120 will now be described. FIG.4 is a diagram for description of the functions realized by the userterminal 120. Referring to FIG. 4, the user terminal 120 functionallyincludes, for example, a restriction information acquirer 401, alocation information acquirer 402, a terminal-side file acquirer 403,and a restriction remover 404.

The restriction information acquirer 401 acquires the restrictioninformation (the encryption key here) on the basis of an instructionfrom the user. Specifically, when the user captures an image of theencoded encryption key 302 (QR code) which is printed on the papermedium 301 output from the information processing apparatus 110 with theimaging unit 124 provided in the user terminal 120, the restrictioninformation acquirer 401 decrypts the encryption key from the encodedencryption key 302 the image of which is captured. Specifically, therestriction information acquirer 401 performs decryption processes forthe respective processes performed in the restriction informationencoder 205 and the restriction information-to-string converter 204 inthe information processing apparatus 110 to the encoded encryption key302 that is acquired to decrypt the encryption key. The restrictioninformation acquirer 401 supplies the acquired encryption key to therestriction remover 404.

The location information acquirer 402 acquires the location information.Specifically, the location information acquirer 402 acquires thelocation information transmitted from the location informationtransmitter 210 in the information processing apparatus 110 via thecommunication unit 123. The location information acquirer 402 suppliesthe acquired location information to the terminal-side file acquirer403.

The terminal-side file acquirer 403 acquires the encrypted file on thebasis of the location information supplied from the location informationacquirer 402. Specifically, the terminal-side file acquirer 403 accessesthe file server 130 via the communication unit 123 with reference to theaddress information (for example, the URL) about the location where theencrypted file is stored, which is included in the location information,to acquire the encrypted file. The terminal-side file acquirer 403supplies the acquired encrypted file to the restriction remover 404.

The restriction remover 404 removes the restriction of access to theencrypted file supplied from the terminal-side file acquirer 403 on thebasis of the encryption key supplied from the restriction informationacquirer 401. Specifically, the restriction remover 404 decodes theencrypted file supplied from the terminal-side file acquirer 403 withthe encryption key supplied from the restriction information acquirer401. In the decoding, the decryption process for the process performedin the data processor 202 in the information processing apparatus 110 isperformed.

An outline of a processing flow in the information processing apparatus110 in the present exemplary embodiment will now be described. FIG. 5 isa flowchart illustrating an exemplary process in the informationprocessing apparatus 110. The processing flow from the time when theinformation processing apparatus 110 acquires the file to the time whenthe information processing apparatus 110 finishes the output of theencoded encryption key 302 on the paper medium 301 is illustrated inFIG. 5.

Referring to FIG. 5, in Step S501, the file acquirer 201 acquires afile. In Step S502, the restriction information generator 203 generatesthe encryption key.

In Step S503, the data processor 202 encrypts the file using theencryption key. In Step S504, the data processor 202 stores theencrypted file in the file server 130.

In Step S505, the restriction information-to-string converter 204converts the encryption key into a character string. In Step S506, therestriction information encoder 205 encodes the encryption key convertedinto the character string. In Step S507, the restriction informationoutput section 206 outputs (prints) the encoded encryption key 302 (forexample, the QR code) on the paper medium 301.

In Step S508, the user identification information acquirer 207 acquiresthe user identification information on the basis of an instruction fromthe user. In Step S509, the terminal information acquirer 208 acquiresthe terminal information from the user information memory unit 209 inwhich the terminal information associated with the user identificationinformation is stored. In Step S510, the location informationtransmitter 210 transmits the location information (for example, theURL) indicating the location of the encrypted file on the basis of theterminal information. Upon transmission of the location information, theprocess in FIG. 5 is terminated.

An outline of a processing flow in the user terminal 120 in the presentexemplary embodiment will now be described. FIG. 6 is a flowchartillustrating an exemplary process in the user terminal 120. Theprocessing flow from the time when the user terminal 120 acquires theencoded encryption key 302 and the location information to the time whenthe user terminal 120 finishes the decoding of the encrypted file isillustrated in FIG. 6.

Referring to FIG. 6, in Step S601, the restriction information acquirer401 performs the decryption processes for the respective processesperformed in the restriction information encoder 205 and the restrictioninformation-to-string converter 204 in the information processingapparatus 110 to the encoded encryption key 302 (for example, the QRcode) acquired on the basis of the instruction from the user to acquirethe encryption key. In Step S602, the location information acquirer 402acquires the location information (for example, the URL) transmittedfrom the location information transmitter 210 in the informationprocessing apparatus 110.

In Step S603, the terminal-side file acquirer 403 accesses the fileserver 130 in which the encrypted file is stored on the basis of thelocation information to acquire the encrypted file. In Step S604, therestriction remover 404 decodes the encrypted file with the encryptionkey. Upon decoding of the encrypted file, the process in FIG. 6 isterminated.

According to the information processing apparatus 110 of the presentexemplary embodiment, the encryption key used for encrypting the file isoutput on the paper medium 301 in a mode that is not electronic data.Accordingly, the encryption key that is not electronic data is separatedfrom the encrypted file, which is electronic data.

Exemplary Modification

The case is described in the above exemplary embodiment in which theencryption key used for the encrypting the file, which is converted intoa character string and is encoded, is output on the paper medium 301. Inan exemplary modification, a case will be described in which dummy keys,which are encryption keys (false keys) that are separated from theencryption key used for encrypting the file, are further generated andthe encryption keys resulting from division, conversion into characterstrings, and encoding of the encryption keys including the dummy keysare output on the paper medium 301. Also in the present exemplarymodification, the restriction information is the encryption key, as inthe above exemplary embodiment. In order to avoid duplication of thedescription, portions different from those in the above exemplaryembodiment will be mainly described in the description of the presentexemplary modification.

FIG. 7 is a diagram for description of the functions of the informationprocessing apparatus 110 in the present exemplary modification. Theportions different from the functions of the information processingapparatus 110 in the above exemplary embodiment illustrated in FIG. 2will be mainly described below.

Upon acquisition of the request to generate the encryption key from thedata processor 202, the restriction information generator 203 generatesone encryption key used for encrypting the file and two dummy keys,which are the encryption keys that are not used for encrypting the file,that is, that are irrelevant to the encryption of the file and suppliesall the encryption keys that are generated to the data processor 202.

The data processor 202 encrypts the file supplied from the file acquirer201 using the encryption key for encrypting the file and supplies allthe encryption keys to a restriction information divider 211.

The restriction information divider 211 divides the encryption keyssupplied from the data processor 202. In the present exemplarymodification, the restriction information divider 211 divides each ofthe three encryption keys supplied from the data processor 202 intothree. Specifically, the restriction information divider 211 divideseach encryption key into a first portion, an intermediate portion, and alast portion. The restriction information divider 211 supplies all theencryption keys resulting from the division (nine encryption keys here)to the restriction information-to-string converter 204.

The restriction information-to-string converter 204 converts all theencryption keys supplied from the restriction information divider 211into character strings. The restriction information-to-string converter204 supplies all the encryption keys converted into the characterstrings to the restriction information encoder 205.

The restriction information encoder 205 encodes all the encryption keysconverted into the character strings, which are supplied from therestriction information-to-string converter 204. Also in the presentexemplary modification, the restriction information encoder 205 convertsthe encryption keys converted into the character strings into QR codes.The restriction information encoder 205 supplies all the encodedencryption keys to the restriction information output section 206.

The restriction information output section 206 outputs all the encodedencryption keys 302 supplied from the restriction information encoder205 on the paper medium 301. Specifically, the restriction informationoutput section 206 instructs the printing unit 114 to print all theencoded encryption keys 302 that are arranged.

FIG. 8 illustrates an example of the encryption keys output on the papermedium in the present exemplary modification. As illustrated in FIG. 8,the nine encoded encryption keys 302 (QR codes) to which numbers fromone to nine are added are printed on the paper medium 301. As describedabove, the nine encoded encryption keys 302 are generated by dividingeach of one encryption key used for encrypting the file and the twodummy keys that are irrelevant to the encryption of the file into three.Specifically, among the nine QR codes, the three QR codes are generatedfrom the encryption key used for encrypting the file and the remainingsix QR codes are generated from the dummy keys irrelevant to theencryption of the file. For example, referring to FIG. 8, the QR codenumbered “5” corresponds to the first portion of the one encryption keyused for encrypting the file, the QR code numbered “3” corresponds tothe intermediate portion of the encryption key used for encrypting thefile, and the QR code numbered “9” corresponds to the last portion ofthe encryption key used for encrypting the file. The paper medium 301 onwhich the QR codes are printed is acquired by the user operating theinformation processing apparatus 110 for storage.

The nine QR codes are capable of being arranged with various methods.For example, the nine QR codes may be arranged in accordance with aninstruction from the user, which is received with a user interface, suchas a touch panel and input keys, provided in the information processingapparatus 110. In this case, for example, when the user operates thetouch panel to sequentially input the numbers “5”, “3”, and “9”corresponding to the positions where the QR codes are arranged as theinformation for specifying how to arrange the QR codes, the QR codecorresponding to the first portion of the encryption key used forencrypting the file is arranged at the position of the number “5” thatis first input, the QR code corresponding to the intermediate portion ofthe encryption key is arranged at the position of the number “3” that isinput next, and the QR code corresponding to the last portion of theencryption key is arranged at the position of the number “9” that isinput next. The QR codes generated from the dummy keys irrelevant to theencryption of the file are arranged at the positions of the numbers “1”,“2”, “4”, “6”, “7”, and “8” that are not input. The printing on thepaper medium 301 in the restriction information output section 206 maybe available after the specification of how to arrange the QR codes isreceived.

When the positions where the QR codes are arranged and the order ofdecryption are automatically determined in the information processingapparatus 110, the information processing apparatus 110 may transmitorder information indicating the determined order to the user terminal120. The information processing apparatus 110 may transmit the orderinformation along with the location information (for example, the URL)about the file or may transmit the order information separately from thelocation information.

The acquisition of the encryption keys in the user terminal 120 in thepresent exemplary modification will now be described. As describedabove, among the nine QR codes output on the paper medium 301, the threeQR codes are generated from the encryption key used for encrypting thefile. The remaining six QR codes are generated from the dummy keys,which are not used for encrypting the file. Accordingly, in capturing ofimages of the QR codes, it is necessary for the user to capture theimages of the three QR codes generated from the encryption key used forencrypting the file, among the nine QR codes, in an order that isdesired for the decryption. For example, it is necessary for the user tocapture the images of the three QR codes in the order of the firstportion, the intermediate portion, and the last portion in the divisionof one encryption key used for encrypting the file in the restrictioninformation divider 211, that is, in the order of the QR code numbered“5” corresponding to the first portion, the QR code numbered “3”corresponding to the intermediate portion, and the QR code numbered “9”corresponding to the last portion in FIG. 8. The user is capable ofacquiring (recognizing) the order of the image capturing for thedecryption when the user operates the information processing apparatus110 (for example, the user operates the information processing apparatus110 to issue a print instruction).

Upon capturing of the images of the QR codes, the restrictioninformation acquirer 401 decrypts the encryption key from the QR codesthe images of which are captured. Specifically, the restrictioninformation acquirer 401 performs the decryption processes for therespective processes performed in the restriction information encoder205, the restriction information-to-string converter 204, and therestriction information divider 211 in the information processingapparatus 110 to decrypt the encryption key. The correct encryption keyis not decrypted in this process unless the images of the three QR codesgenerated from the encryption key used for encrypting the file arecaptured in the order desired for the decryption of the encryption key.The processing after the encryption key is decrypted is the same as inthe above exemplary embodiment.

According to the present exemplary modification, each of the encryptionkey used for encrypting the file and the dummy keys irrelevant to theencryption of the file is divided to be output on the paper medium 301.Accordingly, for example, even if the encrypted electronic data (file)and the paper medium 301 on which the information for the decoding isprinted are passed to the third party, the information in the file isprevented from leaking unless the third party recognizes the order ofthe image capturing of the information (the QR codes) printed on thepaper medium 301.

The present invention is not limited to the exemplary embodimentdescribed above and the configuration of the exemplary embodiment may bereplaced with substantially the same configuration as that in the aboveexemplary embodiment, the configuration having the same effect andadvantage as those of the above exemplary embodiment, or theconfiguration capable of achieving the same object as that of the aboveexemplary embodiment. For example, the functional configurations of theinformation processing apparatus 110 and the user terminal 120 and theprocessing flows described above are only examples and the presentinvention is not limited to those.

For example, the encryption key may be generated from a password. Inthis case, the encryption key is generated from the password with acommon method. For example, a hash value is taken using a one-way hashfunction (for example, sha256) as the password to generate theencryption key. The restriction information is not limited to theencryption key and may be the password. When the restriction informationis the password, the data processor 202 may perform a process ofprotecting the file with the password as the process of associating therestriction information with the file. The password may be input by theuser. Alternatively, the ID number of a Subscriber Identity Module (SIM)card, Near Field Communication (NFC), or FeliCa included in the userterminal 120 may be acquired to use the acquired ID number as thepassword.

For example, the data processor 202 may perform a process of protectingthe encryption key with the password acquired in the above manner. Thedata processor 202 may perform a process of replacing the file name tobe associated with the location information and the restrictioninformation with a management number with which the file is uniquelyidentified. The management number may be output on the paper medium 301along with the restriction information. The data processor 202 mayencrypt the location information (for example, the URL) with theencryption key used for encrypting the file and the location informationtransmitter 210 may transmit the encrypted location information. In thiscase, in the user terminal 120, the encrypted location informationacquired by the location information acquirer 402 may decoded with theencryption key acquired by the restriction information acquirer 401 toacquire the encrypted file on the basis of the decoded locationinformation.

The conversion of the encryption key into the character string, theencoding of the encryption key, and the division of the encryption keyin the above exemplary embodiment are not necessarily performed. Forexample, any of the conversion of the encryption key into the characterstring, the encoding of the encryption key, and the division of theencryption key may be performed, any combination of the conversion ofthe encryption key into the character string, the encoding of theencryption key, and the division of the encryption key may be performed,or none of the conversion of the encryption key into the characterstring, the encoding of the encryption key, and the division of theencryption key may be performed. For example, the encryption key may bedirectly encoded. When the encryption key is converted into the QR code,the encryption key may be converted into a character string to beencoded. In the acquisition of the restriction information in the userterminal 120, the user may directly input the restriction information.

When, for example, the nine encoded encryption keys 302 (QR codes)including the dummy keys are generated, the nine encoded encryption keys302 may be generated from one encryption key for encrypting the file andeight encryption keys that are not used in the encryption of the file.

For example, the data processor 202 may encrypt the file with threeencryption keys and the user terminal 120 may acquire the threeencryption keys to decode the file. In this case, in the decoding of thefile, the three encryption keys may be acquired in random order or itmay not be possible to decode the file unless the three encryption keysare acquired in a certain order.

The specification of the arrangement in the printing of the multipleencoded encryption keys 302 may be performed, for example, via the userterminal 120. In this case, upon input of the information (the numbers)for specifying the arrangement into the user terminal 120 by the userwith an input device that is composed of a touch panel and input keysand that is included in the user terminal 120, the user terminal 120 maytransmit the information for specifying the arrangement to theinformation processing apparatus 110 over the network. The informationprocessing apparatus 110 may acquire the information for specifying thearrangement, may arrange the multiple encoded encryption keys 302 on thebasis of the information, and may output the encryption keys 302 on thepaper medium 301. In this case, for example, in the printing of theencoded encryption keys 302, the user may be requested to input theinformation for specifying the arrangement into the informationprocessing apparatus 110 and, if the input information coincides withthe information for specifying the arrangement, the printing of theencoded encryption keys 302 may be performed. In addition, for example,the information for specifying the arrangement may be stored in the userterminal 120 and, if the order of the image capturing when the userterminal 120 acquires the encryption key coincides with the orderspecified in the information, the acquisition of the restrictioninformation may be accepted.

The decoded file may not be stored in the user terminal 120 and, whenthe file is updated in the user terminal 120 side, the user terminal 120may perform the processing similar to that in the information processingapparatus 110 to encrypt the file and the file may be stored in the fileserver 130.

The foregoing description of the exemplary embodiments of the presentinvention has been provided for the purposes of illustration anddescription. It is not intended to be exhaustive or to limit theinvention to the precise forms disclosed. Obviously, many modificationsand variations will be apparent to practitioners skilled in the art. Theembodiments were chosen and described in order to best explain theprinciples of the invention and its practical applications, therebyenabling others skilled in the art to understand the invention forvarious embodiments and with the various modifications as are suited tothe particular use contemplated. It is intended that the scope of theinvention be defined by the following claims and their equivalents.

What is claimed is:
 1. An information processing apparatus comprising: amemory for storing computer execution instructions; and a centralprocessing unit (CPU) in communication with the memory, the CPUconfigured to: acquire a file on the basis of an instruction from auser; generate an encryption key for restricting access to the acquiredfile, and generate for the encryption key, a plurality of dummyencryption keys that are not used for encryption of the acquired fileand that are irrelevant to encryption of the acquired file; encrypt theacquired file using the encryption key; divide each of the encryptionkey and the plurality of the dummy encryption keys, respectively, into aplurality of portions; convert the divided portions into respectivecharacter strings; encode each of the character strings into avisualized code; and output the encoded character strings arranged in anorder on a paper medium, wherein the order in which the encodedcharacter strings are arranged on the paper medium is a two-dimensionalarray.
 2. The information processing apparatus according to claim 1,wherein the information processing apparatus further comprises astorage, and wherein the CPU is further configured to: store the filewith which the encryption key is associated in the storage, and notify auser terminal of location information indicating a location of the filein the storage.
 3. The information processing apparatus according toclaim 1, wherein the information processing apparatus further comprisesa storage, and wherein the CPU is further configured to: store theencrypted file in the storage, encrypt location information indicating alocation of the file in the storage, and notify a user terminal of theencrypted location information.
 4. The information processing apparatusaccording to claim 1, wherein the CPU is further configured to: acquireuser identification information for identifying the user on the basis ofan instruction from the user; and acquire terminal informationassociated with the acquired user identification information from a userinformation memory that stores the user identification information inassociation with the terminal information, wherein the CPU generates theencryption key according to the acquired terminal information.
 5. Theinformation processing apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the CPUis further configured to: acquire user identification information foridentifying the user on the basis of an instruction from the user; andacquire terminal information associated with the acquired useridentification information from a user information memory that storesthe user identification information in association with the terminalinformation, wherein the CPU notifies the user terminal of the locationinformation, based on the acquired terminal information.
 6. Theinformation processing apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the CPUis further configured to: acquire user identification information foridentifying the user on the basis of an instruction from the user; andacquire terminal information associated with the acquired useridentification information from a user information memory that storesthe user identification information in association with the terminalinformation, wherein the CPU notifies the user terminal of the file withwhich the encryption key is associated, based on the acquired terminalinformation.
 7. An information processing system comprising: aninformation processing apparatus configured to be used by a user; and auser terminal configured to be carried by the user and connected to theinformation processing apparatus over a network, wherein the informationprocessing apparatus comprises a memory for storing computer executioninstructions and a central processing unit (CPU) in communication withthe memory, the CPU configured to: acquire a file on the basis of aninstruction from the user; generate an encryption key for restrictingaccess to the acquired file, and generate for the encryption key, aplurality of dummy encryption keys that are not used for encryption ofthe acquired file and that are irrelevant to encryption of the acquiredfile; encrypt the acquired file using the encryption key; divide each ofthe encryption key and the dummy encryption keys, respectively, into aplurality of portions; convert the divided portions into respectivecharacter strings; encode each of the character strings into avisualized code; cause the encoded character strings to be outputarranged in an order on a paper medium, wherein the order in which theencoded character strings are arranged on the paper medium is atwo-dimensional array; and notify the user terminal of locationinformation indicating a location of the file associated with theencryption key, and wherein the user terminal comprises a memory forstoring computer execution instructions and a central processing unit(CPU) in communication with the memory, the CPU configured to: acquirethe encoded character strings from the paper medium; receive thelocation information from the information processing apparatus; acquirethe file associated with the encryption key on the basis of the receivedlocation information; and remove the restriction of access to theacquired file on the basis of the acquired encoded character strings. 8.The information processing system according to claim 7, wherein the CPUof the user terminal decodes the acquired file acquired with theencryption key obtained from the acquired encoded character strings. 9.The information processing system according to claim 8, wherein the userterminal comprises a camera, and wherein the CPU of the user terminalacquires the encryption key by capturing an image of the encodedcharacter strings from the paper medium with the camera.
 10. Anon-transitory computer readable medium storing a program causing acomputer to execute a process comprising: acquiring a file on the basisof an instruction from a user; generating an encryption key forrestricting access to the acquired file, and generating for theencryption key, a plurality of dummy encryption keys that are not usedfor encryption of the acquired file and that are irrelevant toencryption of the acquired file; encrypting the acquired file using theencryption key; dividing each of the encryption key and the dummyencryption keys, respectively, into a plurality of portions; convertingthe divided portions into respective character strings; encoding thecharacter strings into a visualized code; and outputting the encodedcharacter strings arranged in an order on a paper medium, wherein theorder in which the encoded character strings are arranged on the papermedium is a two-dimensional array.
 11. The information processingapparatus according to claim 1, wherein the dummy encryption keyscomprise two dummy encryption keys, and the order in which the encodedcharacter strings are arranged on the paper medium is a 3×3 array. 12.The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein theCPU arranges the encoded character strings in the order based on anarrangement instruction from the user.
 13. The information processingapparatus according to claim 12, wherein the arrangement instructiondesignates locations of the portions of the divided encryption key amongthe plurality of portions within the order in which the encodedcharacter strings are arranged on the paper medium.